Following divorce, separation, or a split, child support often plays an important role. These payments provide for your kids and cover necessities like food, shelter, medical care, and any other expenses. Like most court mandates once in place, it’s difficult to alter child support orders. One thing that makes it even harder is when your ex won’t play ball. If your ex keeps dodging you, what can you do?
The good news is that you do have options. It will likely take time and energy on your part, but there are legal routes for you to follow in these situations.
Our founding partner, Rick Jones, regularly appears KZOK radio, where he addresses family law questions from listeners. In fact, he has wrestled with this very topic on the air.
Related Reading: How is Child Support Calculated in Washington?
Listen to the conversation below:
Caller: “My daughter has been divorced for several years now, and the child support that was set up was below standard. So I finally got her to go to an attorney, and she has one, but every time the attorney sets up to have an appointment to meet with him or to set up with an arbitrator, he finds some way not to come. Is there anything that can be done?”
Rick: “Sure, set a court date. Sounds like there is a passive negotiation going on, so quit with the passiveness and get into court right away. What county is this in by the way? Is it here in Washington?”
Caller: “Yeah, Pierce.”
Rick: “Okay, in Pierce County, what needs to be filed is a ‘child support adjustment,’ because it’s been more than two years since it was last looked at. It’s a very common proceeding, but filing a support adjustment, he or she can be into court literally within 30 days to address the issue.”
It is important to note that getting your ex to sit down is only the first step in this process. Altering child support payments after the fact is a difficult task. You often face an uphill battle.
In most cases, you must demonstrate a significant and usually permanent change in financial standing. Even then, the courts are often reluctant to modify an existing order.
The best way to ensure your child support payments are an amount you can afford is to get it right the first time. This may take additional effort or negotiation, but you face big challenges if you wait until later to try to change things.
Related Reading: Child Support Modification: What You Need to Know